Automatic programming

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In computer science, the term automatic programming[1] identifies a type of computer programming in which some mechanism generates a computer program rather than have human programmers write the code.

There has been little agreement on the precise definition of automatic programming, mostly because its meaning has changed over time. David Parnas, tracing the history of "automatic programming" in published research, noted that in the 1940s it described automation of the manual process of punching paper tape. Later it referred to translation of high-level programming languages like Fortran and ALGOL. In fact, one of the earliest programs identifiable as a compiler was called Autocoder. Parnas concluded that "automatic programming has always been a euphemism for programming in a higher-level language than was then available to the programmer."[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ricardo Aler Mur, "Automatic Inductive Programming", ICML 2006 Tutorial. June 2006.
  2. ^ D. L. Parnas. "Software Aspects of Strategic Defense Systems." American Scientist. November 1985.